


The Biggest Gift of All

by fio13



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Anal Sex, Christmas, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Fluff, M/M, Post-Canon, Sappy, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-29
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-02 23:54:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fio13/pseuds/fio13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s Christmas Eve, and Noiz is spending it alone in his apartment, due to Aoba unexpectedly having to prolong his visit in Midorijima.</p>
<p>But then there’s a sudden ring of the doorbell, and his lonely, quiet evening quickly transforms into one of the best he has ever had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Biggest Gift of All

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this story planned for a while, but I only started writing it two days ago, and I think I can safely say that it is the quickest fic I have ever written.
> 
> It's set after Noiz's route in DMMd/re:connect. There aren't really any re:connect spoilers unless you squint really hard. WARNING: MAJOR FLUFF AND SAPPINESS AHEAD.
> 
> Thank you [Sarah](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ceasefire) for proofreading the fic for me! <333

Noiz sat on the sofa in his apartment lounge, staring blankly at the TV, a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. He didn’t really care for the program itself, but he really hated being alone in complete silence, so at least it was better to have some other noise in the apartment that wasn’t the sound of his own breathing. 

It was the holiday season, and for weeks, wherever he turned all he was surrounded with were Christmas themed images, with messages of love and importance of one’s home and family. Tonight was finally Christmas Eve, and his brother had called him to go to their parents’ house for Christmas dinner, which he had instantly refused. As much as he loved to spend time with his brother, he would rather stay in a completely empty apartment and stare at the TV for the whole evening than have to watch fake smiles of his parents, filled with empty apologies that really meant nothing to him at this point. 

He took a final sip of his hot chocolate and then placed it on the coffee table in front of him, before glancing at the clock on his coil. It was a bit past 9 PM- still way too early for Aoba to be awake.

Sighing, he took his coil off of his wrist and placed it on the table next to now empty mug and his Allmate cube that was currently set in sleeping mode. Then, he closed his eyes, fingers rubbing at his temples. 

It had been a bit over a month since Aoba had gone back to Midorijima to visit his grandma. Noiz was supposed to go with him, but work had been busier than ever before the holiday season, so he’d had no other choice but to stay in Germany.

Aoba was originally supposed to return to Germany a week ago, just in time for them to spend Christmas together. But then, Tae had unexpectedly caught a serious flu, and Aoba couldn’t bear to leave her alone. So with a heavy heart, he had decided to stay for a few more days to take care of her until she gets better. And of course, Noiz understood that; he knew how much Tae meant to Aoba. And they could still spend time together for New Years and the rest of his holiday vacation, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Noiz wasn’t much of a Christmas fan anyway. If it hadn’t been for his brother who had literally barged into his apartment one day and had insisted on decorating it, he wouldn’t have bothered with doing that on his own. He didn’t see the point of doing it if Aoba wasn’t here anyway. 

Of course, they’d stayed in contact via their coils every day, and they’d video called each other regularly- but it still wasn’t the same as having Aoba here, his warm presence lighting up their big apartment. Every time he saw Aoba’s apologetic face on the screen, looking at Noiz with a small, nostalgic smile and a longing glint in his eyes, it made him feel even worse. 

Just seeing him wasn’t enough anymore. He wanted to be able to physically touch him. He wanted to touch those soft cheeks, smell that flowery scented hair, to tangle his fingers into those long blue strands. He wanted to kiss those pouty lips, to pull his warm body flush against his own, until it felt like they were one. He wanted him. He wanted him so much it hurt. 

To make matters worse, this had been the first time that they had been separated ever since they had settled together in Germany. Even though he had already experienced this once during those three months when he had decided to go back to Germany for the first time, there was no way that he could ever get used to the horrible feeling of being separated from the love of his life. And more so now that he knew what living together with Aoba felt like, now that they had made serious plans for their future.

He stood up from the sofa, walking over to the sparsely decorated Christmas tree, and he stopped in his tracks when he noticed a picture on the nearby shelf. It was a picture of him and Aoba that they had taken a bit before Aoba had left for Midorijima, framed in a bright blue frame. They had gone shopping together that day, and Aoba had been so cold since he still hadn't gotten completely used to the sharp weather in Germany during winter, so Noiz had bought him a pair of pink earmuffs. Aoba had insisted that he buy a matching green pair for himself, and when Noiz begrudgingly did so, Aoba had put them on Noiz’s ears, smiling and saying that he looked ‘so cute that they simply _had_ to take a picture’. 

Noiz smiled fondly as he looked at Aoba, who grinned at him from the frame, hand holding a peace sign and face flushed from the cold, pink earmuffs on his head enhancing the flush on his cheeks even more. Next to him was Noiz, with a slightly smaller flush on his cheeks and an impassive look on his face as he stared at the camera with a small pout on his lips. He was unenthusiastically showing a peace sign too, since of course, Aoba had made him do so. Looking at his own awkward self, he couldn’t help but chuckle. As much as he felt stupid at the time, he had also felt so happy that Aoba had wanted to make this sort of memory with him. It had been one of the first pictures they had taken together, and Noiz had never done something like that with anyone else before, so it held a special place in his heart.

Now that he was alone and missing Aoba like crazy, he felt his chest constrict with a mixture of warmth and longing as he watched the face of his lover. Not being able to handle it anymore, he closed his eyes, placing a hand against his chest that kept hurting more and more with each passing second. Even though it had been more than half a year since he had started feeling pain, he still had difficulty coping with this sort of pain sometimes, the _emotional_ kind of pain.

Heaving a deep sigh, he shook his head and decided to try and clear his mind with a bath. Slowly starting to unzip his hoodie, he headed towards the bathroom, trying to calm his emotions and attempting to think positively. Just one week left, he thought, and Aoba would be with him again. There was nothing to worry about; he would also be able to hear his voice and hopefully video chat with him in only a few hours when Aoba woke up. 

Just as he managed to relax and make his mind blank, taking a few steps out of the room, a sudden loud ringing of the door bell made him frown and stop in his tracks.

He had no idea who would want to come and search for him on Christmas Eve, when all other people most likely wanted to stay with their families and enjoy holiday dinner. Unless it was his brother coming to beg him to go to his parents’ dinner because they had been insisting for him to come or something. He hoped that that wasn’t the case, because he definitely wasn’t in the mood to argue right now.

Letting out another sigh for the umpteenth time that evening, he unwillingly started walking towards the direction of the door. When he reached it, he took the key from the key hanger and placed it into the lock. After quickly turning the key twice, he opened the door.

“What is i-“ 

“I’m home, Noiz!”

He had to blink a few times to make sure he was not hallucinating, because the sight that greeted him was one that he definitely hadn’t expected to see tonight.

It was none other than _Aoba_ who stood at the door, with a wide grin on his face and a flush on his cheeks, wearing those same pink earmuffs and almost looking like he had transported directly from the picture Noiz had looked at only few minutes ago. He wore a winter jacket that looked at least three sizes too big for him as always, and he had one huge travelling bag in each hand.

Noiz proceeded to stand stupidly and watch him with his mouth wide open. Aoba let out a light laugh, entering their apartment and placing the two bags by his feet on the floor before closing the door behind him.

“Phew, those were heavy!” he complained, his voice cheerful as he proceeded to take off his gloves and boots. “You wouldn’t believe how crowded the airport was today. Lots of people travelling for Christmas apparently! Luckily I managed to- mph!”

Noiz finally got out of his trance and jumped forward, pressing a desperate, bruising kiss against Aoba’s lips. He wrapped his arms around Aoba’s shoulders and clung to him so tightly that he managed to push him forward and made him hit the door. Aoba made a sound like all of the air left his lungs at the impact, but Noiz didn’t plan to let go of him any time soon. He breathed in the familiar scent that was now mixed with fresh winter air, still keeping his lips tightly locked with Aoba’s. For a brief second, Aoba stayed frozen in his embrace, and then Noiz could feel him relax against his arms and eagerly return the kiss, his arms coming up shakily and closing around Noiz’s neck.

After a few seconds, they parted from their kiss slowly at the same time, but their noses and foreheads staying pressed together, breaths mingling as they clung to each other.

Aoba opened his eyes then, his gaze filled with so much emotion and the corners of his eyes shining with unshed tears as he stared at Noiz. All those emotions he had shown him when they video chatted for the past month were now blended together. Sadness, longing, desire, happiness, love- they were all present in those beautiful, golden eyes of his more strongly than ever as he looked at him, his lips quivering. Noticing this, Noiz leaned forward again without thinking, with the intention to stop the trembling, and he felt Aoba’s tears finally spilling and hitting his own cheeks as their lips met once again. 

He felt more than he heard Aoba’s choked sob as he slowly parted his lips with his tongue and intertwined it with his. The moment their tongues touched, Noiz felt like life was returning to him after a month of being in what felt like a numb, half-comatose state, pain hitting his chest like a spreading fire as he felt Aoba’s shaky breath mingling with his, tongue softly caressing his own. 

They parted for air after what seemed like hours, and as Aoba opened his lips, clearly attempting to speak, Noiz placed a finger against them, shaking his head.

“Later,” he muttered, the sound of his voice foreign to his own ears as he sent Aoba a look that hopefully made him realize what he needed now.

As much as he wanted to know why Aoba hadn’t told him anything, why he hadn’t called for him to pick him up at the airport, and most importantly, _how_ he had managed to come back earlier in the first place, it could all wait. What he wanted more than anything now was to look at him, to enjoy his presence, and above all, to _feel_ him, with his mind, body and soul.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Aoba nodded slowly in affirmation, and Noiz took in a breath before lifting his finger to wipe Aoba’s tears. In reaction, Aoba closed his eyes and let out something that sounded like a mix of laughter and a sob, lifting his own hand and tightly gripping Noiz’s.

Seconds later they were both leaning in again, this time meeting in a kiss so passionate that Noiz could feel his world spinning as he pressed flush against Aoba’s body and slid his tongue against Aoba’s as if it was his life support. He reached between their bodies with his hands and fumbled with the zipper of Aoba’s jacket, quickly unzipping it and getting rid of it in one swift movement. Aoba didn’t do anything to stop him as he continued to lap at Noiz’s tongue feverishly. He put his hands into Noiz’s hair and pulled at the short strands, letting the jacket fall to the floor with a soft thud.

Still not breaking their kiss, Noiz suddenly wrapped his arms around Aoba’s waist and lifted him up, turning around with Aoba in his arms and walking towards their bedroom. With a yelp, Aoba separated his lips from his.

“Mph! Noiz!” he protested, securely wrapping his legs around Noiz’s back so he didn’t fall, but Noiz only smiled at him, continuing to walk towards their bedroom. He pushed the slightly opened door with his leg and entered their room, immediately heading towards the bed and softly placing Aoba on it. Aoba fell on the bed with a thump, sending a half-hearted glare in Noiz’s direction. Then, his earmuffs slid off his head and he took them in his hand with a surprised look.

“I didn’t realize I still had these on,” he murmured.

“You can leave them on as far as I’m concerned,” Noiz muttered, taking off his hoodie at a speed of light, quickly followed by his shirt. “You look cute with those.”

Aoba blushed furiously as he heard those words, opting to put the earmuffs away despite Noiz’s suggestion. Then, he took in a sight of Noiz’s naked torso, and his blush deepened for entirely different reasons. He quickly took off his own shirt and threw it carelessly aside, reaching for the zipper on his pants. But before he could do anything else, Noiz had decided to pounce on him, almost stealing all of the breath from his lungs as he kissed him a second later. He managed a weak moan as Noiz’s naked chest pressed against his own and his hips thrust against Aoba’s quickly growing erection. Noiz kept breaking their kiss to look at him with wonder on his face before diving into their kiss again, still not quite believing that Aoba was actually here. 

“You have no idea,” Noiz murmured against his lips before kissing them once more, “ _no idea_ ,” he repeated, kissing him again, “how _much_ I wanted to do this,” he finished, then reached down to help Aoba out of his pants. 

Lifting his hips in order to help him take off his pants faster, Aoba laughed.

“Those words sure sound awfully familiar,” he said, smiling up at Noiz, but thanks to the way his voice was filled with emotion as he said those words, Noiz knew that he felt exactly the same. 

“Yeah, they do,” Noiz whispered as he finished getting out of his own pants and boxers. He then settled himself on top of Aoba, pushing their hips together and latching his lips onto Aoba’s neck, sucking on it hard.

Aoba let out a loud moan as Noiz’s lips hit his skin, and Noiz kept sucking at the sensitive spot, tongue lapping over the already forming bruise immediately afterwards. He pressed his cock hard against Aoba’s, not being able to hold back a moan of his own at the impact.

“Ah… you’re sure… eager, aren’t you?” Aoba commented as he panted for breath, attempting to tease him but then contradicting himself as he eagerly pressed back, nails digging into the skin of Noiz’s shoulder.

Instead of replying, Noiz just lowered his head and sucked on Aoba’s nipple hard, other hand tracing a path down his body as he continued to grind against him. He felt Aoba bite into his shoulder as a reaction, and he winced at the sensation; it was nothing new for Aoba to bite various places of his body during sex, but the way his teeth sank into his skin now clearly showed how desperate Aoba was to feel him as well.

Removing his lips from his nipple few moments later, he looked down at Aoba’s lower body. He had the urge to kiss every inch of his skin, to worship that red, twitching cock that already leaked precum until he made him scream, but more than anything, he just wanted to enter him, wanted to become one with Aoba as soon as possible. And if the hungry look Aoba sent his way was any indication, he was sure that their minds were on the same page.

Lifting himself up slightly, he reached for the half-empty bottle of lube located on their night table and quickly popped the cap open, spreading the liquid on his fingers.

Aoba sighed and invitingly separated his legs, shyly looking away from him as he murmured,

“Hurry up.”

Upon hearing his words, Noiz felt his desire for Aoba surge through him stronger than ever, and he happily complied, pressing his lube coated finger against Aoba’s entrance and pushing it in. Aoba showed his brief discomfort by closing one eye, arms coming up to wrap around Noiz’s neck tightly. However, when his finger pushed past the ring of muscles suspiciously easily for someone who hadn’t had sex for over a month, Noiz had to stop and send Aoba a curious, questioning glance.

Aoba’s cheeks turned crimson, and he stuttered as he looked away from him once again.

“S-shut up, I had to relieve the tension somehow!”

Aoba’s explanation gave Noiz chills from head to toe.

“Hmmm? Did you think of me doing it to you when you did this?” he lowered his voice as he continued to finger him, suddenly desperate to hear the answer to his question.

Aoba buried his hand further into the pillow before giving him a barely audible reply.

“I… I did. A-almost every night. Ah!”

Feeling as if his breath was taken from him upon hearing those words, Noiz started entering his finger even faster than before, lips finding themselves on Aoba’s ear and biting the bottom of it.

“I jerked off so many times thinking about you doing it,“ he whispered against his ear, quickly adding another finger and causing Aoba to cry out. “I thought of you fingering yourself for me like this, I imagined myself fingering you like this,” he paused, still thrusting his fingers into Aoba’s hole, stretching his warm flesh further and making Aoba moan with both his words and actions.

“But more than anything, I thought of fucking you,” he breathed, “Thought of the way you would look as I pound into you, the way you would scream as you beg for more,” he finally finished, and he felt Aoba whimper, seeing goosebumps form all over his sensitive neck in reaction to his words. Before he could do anything else, Aoba lifted his head forward and pressed a desperate, lingering kiss on his lips, before sending him a pleading look.

“Noiz… I need you,” he simply said, and Noiz gasped, Aoba’s words going through him like electricity. 

Quickly pulling his fingers out of Aoba, he placed his cock against his entrance instead. He took the lube and squeezed the rest of the liquid out onto his cock, then slowly proceeding to push the head of his cock inside. Aoba bit at his bottom lip as he visibly tried to relax his body as much as he could, securely squeezing his arms against Noiz’s nape and looking down to watch Noiz enter him.

After a few moments, Noiz was buried to the hilt inside of him, the warmth that he wanted to feel for so long wrapping around him and making him tremble. Letting out short gasps of air, Aoba tried to endure the feeling, teeth sinking into Noiz’s neck once again and making Noiz tremble even more.

“… okay?” Noiz asked him, nudging his cheek softly with his nose. As much as he wanted to move, he remained patient and waited instead, worriedly looking at Aoba’s face.

Taking a deep breath, Aoba spoke.

“… okay. Move,” he said quietly, placing a kiss against Noiz’s cheek to reassure him further.

Carefully, Noiz moved forward once, overwhelmed by the familiar, warm, tight sensation all over again. He entered him a few more times, feeling Aoba’s muscles gradually ease around him with every new push. 

For a second, Noiz stopped to bury his hand into Aoba’s hair, lightly caressing it and tucking one stray lock behind his ear. His chest fluttered as Aoba closed his eyes and immediately leaned into his touch.

“ _Move_ ,” Aoba whispered once again, his voice thick with emotion, and Noiz pressed his face into Aoba’s neck, doing as he was told. Snapping his hips forward sharply, he continuously managed to bury himself deeper every new time he entered him, and as soon as he started to form a constant rhythm, Noiz realized how close he was already. 

Suddenly, he decided to press himself inside him a bit sharper than before, and as he felt Aoba cry out in reaction, he knew that he managed to find his sensitive spot.

“Noiz… Ah! Noiz…!” Aoba started to press back against him, kissing every piece of skin he could reach- his lips, his face, his shoulder- whispering his name into his ear like a mantra.

“Aoba,“ he whispered back, his movements becoming more and more erratic as he continued to pound into him.

“I missed you. I missed you so much,” Noiz moaned into Aoba’s lips, pressing soft kisses against them every time he moved.

“I know. I know. I missed you too,” Aoba replied, kissing him back and responding to his thrusts. His hands came up to thread through Noiz’s hair and then moved down to cup his face. 

“I’m sorry… for not coming back sooner,” he said, his voice tremulous, and Noiz could hear him holding back tears as he whispered those words. He shook his head in reply, having to swallow the lump that formed in his throat upon hearing them.

“Doesn’t matter. All that matters is… that you’re back with me… now. That you’re back… home,” he said, his own voice trembling with emotion as he timed his words with his thrusts. As he saw his name form silently on Aoba’s lips, feeling fresh tears fall from his eyes onto his skin, he buried his head in between Aoba’s neck and shoulder, his emotions finally overtaking him. The pain in his chest was bigger than ever as he felt his own tears fall and land all over Aoba’s soft, warm skin. He continued to enter him, placing kisses all over his neck and chin, getting lost in the warmth of Aoba’s body and inhaling the familiar scent that he loved so much.

Soon, he noticed that Aoba’s movements became even more frantic as he rubbed himself against Noiz’s stomach, eyes closing tightly in pleasure as he cried out.

“Noiz, I’m!” he managed to pant out, and Noiz licked at his cheek, tasting the salty teardrops and sending him a smile as he continued to pound into him.

“Come… come for me, Aoba,” he demanded softly, and Aoba lost it, screaming Noiz’s name as he came with a sob, clenching around him and managing to bring Noiz closer to his own completion. After only a few more thrusts, Noiz felt his own orgasm surge through him, and he pressed his lips against Aoba’s desperately as he rode it out, moaning into their kiss.

After his orgasm subsided, Noiz ended their kiss with a peck and placed his head on Aoba’s chest, trying to catch his breath. He felt Aoba plant a brief kiss onto his head and then tuck it under his chin, proceeding to caress his hair as he himself tried to return his breathing to normal.

“Welcome back,” Noiz finally murmured a minute later, raising his head up slightly to look at his lover, hand lifting to cup his cheek. As he heard his words, Aoba’s gaze softened, and he caught Noiz's hand in his own, purposely kissing his two slightly bent fingers. 

“Thanks. It feels good to be back.”

 

One long, relaxing bath later, they were sitting in their lounge, both dressed in warm winter clothes as they unpacked Aoba’s luggage.

“So when Granny realized that her temperature has subsided, she practically insisted that I come back to you immediately,” Aoba said as he rummaged through one of his bags, placing random things that he pulled out of it on the table. “Of course, I was still skeptical about it, but then she started yelling at me and that’s when I knew that she was definitely feeling better,” Aoba let out a fond chuckle, and Noiz felt a rush of warmth go through his chest for a millionth time that night upon hearing his laughter.

“And then some of her very good friends insisted that they will spend Christmas evening with her and will take good care of her while I was gone, so I finally felt much more at ease about it,” he finished.

Noiz hummed in thought.

“But how did you manage to get the…”

“Plane tickets? Oh, Haga-san apparently has a good friend that works at the airport and, well, I was able to make last minute arrangements thanks to them. And when I say last minute I literally mean last minute,” Aoba laughed, rummaging through the remaining parts of his luggage and placing what appeared to be a smaller bag on the table.

Noiz remembered their brief conversation yesterday, now finally getting why Aoba had sounded so out of breath. It wasn’t because he was in the middle of ‘running errands for Granny’ as he had said, but it was because he had been rushing to pack in order to come back to him. Realizing this, Noiz felt another pang of pain hit his chest.

“But still, you could’ve told me that you were coming. I could’ve picked you up at the airport. You didn’t have to…” he started, but Aoba waved his hand at him dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it, I managed to catch a cab from the airport and luckily, the driver immediately realized what street I was mentioning, despite my miserable accent. And also,” he started, suddenly looking away and his face turning pink, ”I wanted to surprise you,” Aoba finished softly, busying himself with digging through the contents of the small bag in front of him. 

Before Noiz could reply, Aoba made a small triumphant noise as he pulled a small plastic container from the bag. 

“Ah, here it is!” he exclaimed excitedly, lifting the small lid from the container and bringing it closer for Noiz to see its contents.

“… doughnuts?” Noiz asked, recognizing their shape. The plastic container was neatly filled with what unmistakably looked like Tae’s trademark doughnuts that he had eaten so many times while he was recovering at the hospital.

“Yep! Although, uh… they’re not really made by Granny. I mean… it is her recipe and she assisted and all… but this time, _I_ was the one who made them,” he finished, seeming nervous, and Noiz finally realized why he was so excited about it in the first place. 

“They’re not freshly made since I didn’t have the time to do so yesterday, they’re leftovers from a few days ago. And since I didn’t really plan on bringing them here in the first place, I apologize in advance if-“

Noiz effectively cut off his rambling as he snatched the container away from him, taking one doughnut and biting into it.

Aoba nervously watched him as he munched on the doughnut, its sweet taste filling his mouth. It wasn’t exactly how he remembered it though- and there was definitely something slightly different about the taste- but that didn’t mean that he disliked it. It was just a bit different. And plus, this was something that Aoba had made. That fact alone was more than enough for him to find this the tastiest doughnut in the world. 

With that thought warming his heart, he continued to silently eat the rest of his doughnut. 

“How is it?” Aoba asked with unease.

“… sweet,“ Noiz murmured through his full mouth, deciding to finish his bite first before quickly adding, ”and it’s good.”

“Is that so,” Aoba smiled, relief evident in his voice as he himself dug into the container and took one doughnut.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, where they did nothing but silently munch on their doughnuts, Aoba finally finished the remaining bite before looking back at the bag on the table.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot!” he said, beginning to search for something in the bag once again, and Noiz watched him with curiosity as he licked the crumbs off of his fingers.

“Here. Merry Christmas,” Aoba said, pulling out what appeared to be a bright green sweater made of thick wool. Noiz took the sweater from Aoba’s hands and started examining it closely; it had a small v shape and discreet vertical lines in the material, and Noiz felt his face warm up when he looked down and realized that there were tiny navy and green Usagimodoki cubes sewn at the bottom.

“Go ahead, try it on,” Aoba said, his voice slightly teasing as he probably noticed Noiz’s flustered reaction. He quickly discarded the sweater that he was currently wearing and put on the green one instead, immediately getting surprised as he realized how perfectly it fit him. 

“Do you like it? Granny knitted it herself. Of course, the little bunny cubes were my addition,” Aoba grinned, before continuing.

“I really wanted to buy you something else too, but since the trip was fairly sudden, I-oomph!” Aoba started, but Noiz effectively stopped him by reaching forward and wrapping him in a bone crushing hug.

“I love it,” he whispered against Aoba’s ear. “And I love you.” 

Breath hitching, Aoba slowly returned the embrace.

“… I love you too. But still-“ he started, his tone still a bit worried, but Noiz just shook his head into his neck, tightening his grip around Aoba’s waist.

“As I said, I love it. And also, having you here back with me is the biggest gift I could ask for,” he murmured into his ear, and he could feel Aoba slightly shake against him in reaction to his words before he relaxed into his embrace further.

They stayed like that in each other’s arms for a few minutes, Noiz being perfectly content with breathing in Aoba’s scent, but then, he remembered something.

“I have a present for you too,” he slowly pulled away from Aoba’s arms, head gesturing to the Christmas tree where he had placed Aoba’s present.

“Oh?” Aoba murmured curiously, before lifting himself off the sofa and walking towards the tree, picking up the present located underneath it before returning to sit next to Noiz.

“I hope you didn’t overdo it,” Aoba said with a slightly scolding tone, but Noiz just shrugged.

“Open it.”

Sending him another suspicious gaze, Aoba sighed and started unwrapping the paper carefully. After a few seconds, he was holding a luxurious looking, bright blue winter scarf in his hands. 

Aoba’s face lit up, “Awww, I love it! And it’s my favorite shade of blue too! Thanks!” he smiled at Noiz, wrapping the scarf around him loosely in order to try it on, and corners of Noiz’s lips naturally lifted up into a small smile upon seeing his reaction. He never really valued the importance of Christmas before, but as he sat here, in the warmth of their apartment and watching Aoba’s happy expression, for the first time in his life he swore he could feel something close to what other people called family Christmas spirit.

“I’m glad you didn’t overdo it though. Color me impressed,” Aoba said, and Noiz just smirked, pointing at the wrapping paper next to him.

“You missed something else.”

Aoba let out an exasperated sigh.

“But of course,” he mock grumbled, and then he looked inside the wrapping, eyes widening as he finally saw a small box inside it.

“Don’t tell me…” he started, but Noiz just chuckled, shaking his head.

“No need to panic. Well, not _for now_ ,” he couldn’t help but add. “Just open it.”

Aoba quickly complied, and when he opened the small box, his reaction was a mix of awe and confusion.

“Noiz, this…” he said softly, taking two small, identical silver stud earrings from the box into his hand.

Now it was Noiz’s time to feel nervous. He shrugged awkwardly once again, before saying,

“I told you that I wanted to pierce your ear, didn’t I?” he said, looking down and hands fidgeting with the hem of his new sweater.

“… you did,” Aoba said slowly, and Noiz quickly continued, fearful of the rejection.

“We don’t have to do it if you don’t want to of course. But I decided to buy them and take my chances with it anyway,” he said, his tone fairly blank, but his heart practically threatened to jump out of his ribcage as he waited for Aoba’s reply.

Apparently too stunned to send him a glare that would otherwise surely be sent in his direction because of his hastiness, Aoba just continued to stare at the earrings in his palm, examining them with his gaze.

“I…” then he finally got out of his trance and continued, “No, I’m fine with it. And I want to do it. Just…”

Noiz felt a huge weight lift off his chest, breathing a bit easier as he focused on hearing the rest of what Aoba had to say.

Looking up from the earrings in his hand, Aoba sent him a frown.

“But I thought you wanted me to pierce only one ear. So why two?”

Noiz sent him a smile.

“It’s obvious: one for you, one for me. Sounds fair?”

Noiz watched as Aoba’s face became clouded with emotion, his bright eyes turning a warmer shade of gold and mouth parting as he realized the significance of what Noiz had wanted them to do. Then, he was leaning forward, capturing Noiz’s lips in a tender kiss.

“Of course it does,” Aoba breathed against his lips, settling into his arms once again a few seconds later and head resting on Noiz’s shoulder.

As he threaded his fingers through Aoba’s soft, blue strands, Noiz allowed himself to close his eyes, suddenly feeling as if all those lonely nights without Aoba’s warmth by his side were worth enduring if it meant feeling as happy as he felt now.


End file.
